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S602 durability and quality

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Petrus Lundqvist

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I've been looking into a prosumer digicam and the Fuji S602 is one of the cameras I've been evaluating. I'm curious as to what the Fuji quality is like, however.

Has anyone shot large numbers of photos one with of these? Let's say, 50 000 or more or so? How is it holding up? Is there any public "designed for such and such shutter cycles" spec for this camera? I know the Olympus E-10's and E-20's have some issues in this area.

How about build quality? Is there any part that fails often in this camera? Any re-occuring problem that people seem to run into (such as the Nikon 5700 lens extension mechanism that seems to be failing relatively often)? How about things like control knobs and wheels? Are they built well and attached well to the camera or do they become loose over time like in some cameras?
 
Given the time the 602 has been around, there is little chance that anyone here has run 50,000 shots - few 6900 owners who have had the camera since launch in June 2001 have passed 10,000.

As to Fuji build quality, there is an implied assertion in your question that Fuji, not being a main stream camera manufacturer, is likely to produce a camera not to the standard of Nikon, Olympus etc., though you go on to point up problems with some of their models.

The fact is that build quality is certainly, in general, of a durable standard. There are problems:- ingestion of dust, some batches have been recalled with electrical faults and there have been seemingly one off problems with other parts of the camera affecting either individuals or small numbers. Also Fuji service varies wildly around the world.

Experience of the 6900 and knowledge of the 602 from this forum, set against knowledge of other digicams, places the Fuji prosumer range in a very competitive position.

There are other issues regarding photo quality, pixel output, colour saturation which have been well aired both here and in the photo press. Most of these come down to personal preference and how one interprets the Super CCD argument.

If you are coming directly from SLRs you will find any prosumer digicam lightweight, even flimsy. I've taken the 6900 (almost identical to the 602) apart on twice. I have no doubt that, in normal use, it is both durable and fit for its purpose under the terms of UK and EU consumer legislation.

As to longevity, we live in a throw-away society. The manufacturers are feeding this by releasing updated models on a regular basis (look at the genesis of the 602: 4900/6900/602/602Pro - all in around 3 years).

I paid £UK 625 for my 6900 in June 2001. That sort of expenditure represents an investment for me which I would expect to amortise over 6-8 years depending on use and, in fact, my last Canon SLR lasted me 13 years with little trouble.

I currently have just over 5,900 shots on my 6900. I expect to keep it until the next "leap forward" in CCD technology has been launched and proved - maybe another 2-3 years. At that stage would I buy another Fuji?

That would depend on the price set against performance and the competition but nothing I have experienced so far would put me off buying another Fuji because it was a Fuji.
Petrus Lundqvist said:
I've been looking into a prosumer digicam and the Fuji S602 is one
of the cameras I've been evaluating. I'm curious as to what the
Fuji quality is like, however.

Has anyone shot large numbers of photos one with of these? Let's
say, 50 000 or more or so? How is it holding up? Is there any
public "designed for such and such shutter cycles" spec for this
camera? I know the Olympus E-10's and E-20's have some issues in
this area.

How about build quality? Is there any part that fails often in this
camera? Any re-occuring problem that people seem to run into (such
as the Nikon 5700 lens extension mechanism that seems to be failing
relatively often)? How about things like control knobs and wheels?
Are they built well and attached well to the camera or do they
become loose over time like in some cameras?
Click to expand...
--
PhilB
 
I currently have 3000 602 photo's on my pc, but have made 6000+ exposures, because I use the bracketing and burst mode a lot and often throw those away again, let alone the ones I threw away on my pc.

One weekend I made 500+ exposures of one moving subject and kept only 11 of them. Same happened at a motogp race where I kept 100 photo's, all selected from 5x bursts and some were even unusable, so I think the camera made 600 exposures that day.
This actually isn't a lot. No problems yet, wouldn't expect that either.

Spring has only just begun. :)

--
Sander [Fuji602 SonyP1]
http://www.azrifel.org
http://www.pbase.com/azrifel/
 
...and I bet that on cold winter nights in deepest Worcestershire you invited your friends round for an evening of fun watching Super 8 movies of your childhood holidays in Weston, Rhyl and the great adventure to Skeggie!!

So you see, you can't blame Fuji for your lack of friends, it was the build quality of that damn Kodak cine camera that your Dad bought....it just kept going.......
filibuster said:
50,000? and the camera scarcely 12 months old. But of course. But
they weren't all keepers.
I used to invite my friends round to have a look at my snaps. But
I haven't got any friends left now.....

filibuster
http://www.pbase.com/filibuster
Click to expand...
--
PhilB
 
The 4900, 6900 and now the S602 have been dis-assembled and documented and are on http://www . My report on the S602 is at http://www.digsys.com.au/s602z/s602z.html

I rated the design / construction as adequate ie good enough (if handled within reason) but definitely NOT above standard. There's NO "first look" evidence that anything isn't going to last, I intend to do an "in depth" analysis when I get time. Of all the different brands of DC's and other related equipment I've had apart, it is JUST AVERAGE. Like nearly all other type of "electronic equipment" these days, It's not designed for LONG LIFE or harsh treatment. Treat it well and it should last for a long time. I asked Phil on 2 occasions to request EOL and serviceability policies from the manufacturers, but I've had NO reply. I guess he doesn't think it's important or too busy. Pity, he'd be the only person in a position to get a truthful answer.
JKirk

PS : I have easily taken 15,000 shots so far, AND treated it very ROUGH, not a single problem. Even worked flawlessly one day (900 shots at a wedding), in 120-130 degrees, the body was "red" hot (did over-expose 1 stop though). Some motorcross shots at http://www.pbase.com/digsys/
Petrus Lundqvist said:
Petrus Lundqvist wrote:
I've been looking into a prosumer digicam and the Fuji S602 is one
of the cameras I've been evaluating. I'm curious as to what the
Fuji quality is like, however.
Click to expand...
Petrus Lundqvist said:
Has anyone shot large numbers of photos one with of these? Let's
say, 50 000 or more or so? How is it holding up? Is there any
public "designed for such and such shutter cycles" spec for this
camera? I know the Olympus E-10's and E-20's have some issues in
this area.
Click to expand...
Petrus Lundqvist said:
How about build quality? Is there any part that fails often in this
camera? Any re-occuring problem that people seem to run into (such
as the Nikon 5700 lens extension mechanism that seems to be failing
relatively often)? How about things like control knobs and wheels?
Are they built well and attached well to the camera or do they
become loose over time like in some cameras?
Click to expand...
 
jkirk@oz said:
jkirk@oz said:
Petrus Lundqvist wrote:
I've been looking into a prosumer digicam and the Fuji S602 is one
of the cameras I've been evaluating. I'm curious as to what the
Fuji quality is like, however.
Click to expand...
jkirk@oz said:
Has anyone shot large numbers of photos one with of these? Let's
say, 50 000 or more or so? How is it holding up? Is there any
public "designed for such and such shutter cycles" spec for this
camera? I know the Olympus E-10's and E-20's have some issues in
this area.
Click to expand...
jkirk@oz said:
How about build quality? Is there any part that fails often in this
camera? Any re-occuring problem that people seem to run into (such
as the Nikon 5700 lens extension mechanism that seems to be failing
relatively often)? How about things like control knobs and wheels?
Are they built well and attached well to the camera or do they
become loose over time like in some cameras?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
how do you know youve taken 15,000 shots????????????????????
 
It's an educated guess,

I carry (and fill) 1-3 GB on every "shoot" I do. Sometimes I even do downloads and refill the CF cards. I've done easy 15 "shoots" plus dozens of "product shoot" days plus loaned the camera out. Last week, to test my camera after dis-assembly, I fired off 550 shots for the heck of it. I don't save them all (BUT I do view them all), maybe only 10%, but the camera doesn't know that :-)
I'm actually disappointed that I slowed down the last few months :-(

That doesn't include sometimes when I'm practicing at a M'Cycle event and fire off a few hundred to set up (mostly 5fps). Mar 28th is Superbikes, so you can add another 1,000-2,000. Did I tell you that I love 5fps. Sadly some friends won't let me in now IF I'm carrying the Fuji :-)
JKirk
hoogi said:
hoogi wrote:
how do you know youve taken 15,000 shots????????????????????
Click to expand...
 
jkirk@oz said:
That doesn't include sometimes when I'm practicing at a M'Cycle
event and fire off a few hundred to set up (mostly 5fps). Mar 28th
is Superbikes, so you can add another 1,000-2,000. Did I tell you
that I love 5fps.
Click to expand...
Philip Island is the best track in the world and the layout is a guarantee for action, especially the supersports. Unfortunately for me it is on the other side of the world. :( But I'll get out of bed for it, altough I prefer the MotoGP series. 6th of April the Dutch Supersport series start at Assen, I probably will have pit access thanks to one of the top teams.

Have you ever ridden on the track? I only did a local police one, rubbed a couple of mm's of a D207 in 15 laps. :)

What I'd really like to do is the Keith Code training at Laguna Seca.

--
Sander [Fuji602 SonyP1]
http://www.azrifel.org
http://www.pbase.com/azrifel/
 
Azrifel said:
Azrifel wrote:
Philip Island is the best track in the world and the layout is a
guarantee for action, especially the supersports. Unfortunately for
me it is on the other side of the world. :( But I'll get out of bed
for it, altough I prefer the MotoGP series. 6th of April the Dutch
Supersport series start at Assen, I probably will have pit access
thanks to one of the top teams.
Have you ever ridden on the track? I only did a local police one,
rubbed a couple of mm's of a D207 in 15 laps. :)
Click to expand...
Yep Agreed 100%, PI is our holy land.

I used to race there MANY years ago, not a pro but with a m/cycle club, 600cc mainly. Race meets following 500cc GP's were the best. Ya can never forget hiking 130mph+ down a straight, being left for dead by real pro's, or cranked right over at 80mph and reading the labels on the boots as they pass your face 6 inches away. Siiigh memories. Later on I switched to cruisers and decided "looking cool" was waaay more important than coming second last :-)
http://www.pbase.com/image/14380436
JKirk
Azrifel said:
What I'd really like to do is the Keith Code training at Laguna Seca.
Click to expand...
 
S602 uses an electronic shutter, so you wont have mechanical shutter failure ever since there is no mechanical shutter to fail.

I've shot about 7000 exposure with my S602, no problems so far and I fully expect the techology in the camera to be out of date LONG LONG before the camera breaks down. I expect to be upgrading within the next 3-4 years for sure and at that time, if my S602 has not died, i'll give it to someone :)
Petrus Lundqvist said:
I've been looking into a prosumer digicam and the Fuji S602 is one
of the cameras I've been evaluating. I'm curious as to what the
Fuji quality is like, however.

Has anyone shot large numbers of photos one with of these? Let's
say, 50 000 or more or so? How is it holding up? Is there any
public "designed for such and such shutter cycles" spec for this
camera? I know the Olympus E-10's and E-20's have some issues in
this area.

How about build quality? Is there any part that fails often in this
camera? Any re-occuring problem that people seem to run into (such
as the Nikon 5700 lens extension mechanism that seems to be failing
relatively often)? How about things like control knobs and wheels?
Are they built well and attached well to the camera or do they
become loose over time like in some cameras?
Click to expand...
 
Hiya,

I carry 6 sets of batteries and have my house / car charger handy (only needed once). I have a 8AH DPack on standby (never used) and a "matchbox" sized S/Mode converter, that will accept any source (car batteries etc) from 6V - 28VDC (again NEVER used yet). ONLY ONCE did I use up the 6 packs, it was a LONG day. Remember, I use 5fps MOST the time ! I did a test a few weeks ago (after the dis-assembly episode), shooting ONLY in 5fps. I got to 550 shots ON 1 SET of BATTERIES !! and they still had more in them. Unfortunately, my test subjects threw me out, so I didn't finish the experiment :-). I conclude that quiescent current (EVF, LCD etc) must be "relatively" high c/w Writing to Flash. ie If you compare the "camera ON time" against "actual Flash WRITE time". So my suggestion is - SHOOT FAST and RUN :-)
JKirk

PS: I also have a 6W solar panel and a hand power generator. (ummm never used too). Man I love technology !! ONE DAY, ya never know .....
balarila said:
balarila wrote:
Wow! Do you have Mr. Fusion strapped on doing this?
What do you use for batteries?
Click to expand...
balarila said:
balarila said:
It's an educated guess,
I carry (and fill) 1-3 GB on every "shoot" I do.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
jkirk@oz said:
shooting ONLY in 5fps. I got to 550 shots ON
1 SET of BATTERIES !! and they still had more in them.
Click to expand...
Sounds all right, a pal here testes his 1800mAh set and did 800 shots. But most of us shoot just a few at a time, and switches off the camera after. Probably this switch on/off (moving the lenses) consumes the most, and this way only one third or quarter that number is expectable.
 
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